For Africa's Talking, a mobile-solutions start-up, integration is everything. The Kenya-based firm has developed a platform that makes it possible for companies launching apps to set up accounts and have instant access to multiple countries, mobile operators, and services.
But it wasn’t easy for the pioneering tech start-up to reach the 18 African markets in which it now operates. “Things are not the same in each country you go into, so you almost have to start from scratch in each market,” says Chief Operating Officer Bilha Ndirangu. “We definitely want to go [further] across the entire continent, but it takes a while.”
Ndirangu is among Africa’s business leaders attending this week’s Africa CEO Forum. The Kigali-based event, co-hosted by IFC, is the largest annual meeting of leaders from across Africa’s private sector. On the agenda: partnerships and solutions aimed at unlocking the continent’s economic potential. More than 1,800 African business leaders along with the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Togo are in attendance—as well as leading policy makers and investors.
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